Professor Violet aka Barron Scott Levkoff

On the power of PLAY

2007-07-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

Just ask our friends: At any given moment over the past years, Polly and I proudly spout off all manner of ridiculous, grandiose thoughts, observations and statements about the nature and future of Society.

It's a slightly embarrassing fact.

‘Anyone who takes himself too seriously always runs the risk of looking ridiculous; anyone who can consistently laugh at himself does not.’

In light of this famous line from Oscar Wilde, it would behoove us to allow ourselves to look a bit ridiculous now and then, wouldn't it?

‘There are a thousand forms of subversion; all of them are interesting, but few, in my opinion, equal the convenience and immediacy of the cream pie.’ -- Noel Godin, social-philosopher / guerilla-artist, creator of The International Patisserie Brigade.

Honestly, sometimes I don’t know how our friends put up with us. (Surely, these 'profound pronouncements' of ours would warrant the occasional pie in the face!)

Okay, I think I know why … As the community ‘Class Clowns’, we make them laugh. Certainly, our penchant for being ridiculous defuses the ‘pompous factor’ associated with our work as ‘Social Scientists' … because we actually DO embrace Ridiculousness as part of our personal ethos.
In the realm of archetypes, the Fool holds a very special place: He goes where others fear to tread (if only because he doesn't know any better), often blundering upon hidden or forgotten treasures and truths. Indeed, it was The Fool who introduced me to the whole world of PLAY. And believe it or not, this little word encapsulates everything upon which we have built our Grand Empire of Fun and Celebration. Yes, play is the (THE or A?) eco-friendly fuel that ignites our Beauty Engine (he expounds, whilst twirling his curly mustache …)

Seventeen years ago, I signed up as a volunteer actor at the Black Point Renaissance Faire and quickly took to making a fool of myself begging for desserts and ale in the dusty streets of a real, live (virtual) Elizabethan Village. Paying customers rewarded my antics handsomely with treats and I was afforded the freedom to play with people in whole new ways. This 'job' allowed me to step into a clarified reality where everything slowed down, interactions were heightened and the most mundane things suddenly took on profound meanings.

I quickly brought my cap, bells and colorful fool’s motley to the stuffy banquet halls of Silicon Valley's Corporate America, amusing myself and hordes of semi-autistic yuppies by producing hot rolls and strings of sausages from out my poofy pants. Beyond discovering that I could actually get paid to play, most importantly, The Fool presented a mirror to myself, inviting me to regard my foibles, strengths and passions with a bemused eye and a loving, if somewhat detached, grin. The boundaries between play and work, the commonplace and the sublime, the sacred and the profane, began to blur.

I spent years, literally, pondering: if ‘The play's the thing’ … then why aren’t we all playing more often? I started to see all efforts and outcomes, follies and victories, as equally important ingredients of the feast of life, integral condiments for spicing up the grand banquet of reality.

Anthony Judge, some obscure essayist guy, writes: ‘The Court Jester offers new perspectives and helps people to look at their daily work and every day reality in new ways. Here, the court jester is concerned with the quality of communities and the well-being of all members, independent of their positions.’

My personal Patron Saint, The Fool, had given me a special perspective on the nature of Social Interaction, which helped to open the doors onto my life as a Social Scientist in the years to come.

My love of play also brought me to the world of Puppetry. I spent time abroad studying, performing and immersing myself in the rich traditions of European street fairs and Puppet Festivals. I met many amazing performers during this time, artists who instilled in me a respect for tradition and technique. They shared openly with me their belief in theater as a tool for facilitating cultural transformation. For many years, I performed as a children’s puppeteer. This took me on countless journeys of discovery and innocence, into worlds where things are whatever we dream them to be, where magic words bring flowers to life and every action has special meaning and purpose.
I am grateful to the many thousands of children I have performed for over the years who have helped me stay open to the possibilities presented by play. Maintaining a partial state of ‘arrested development’ has been critical in my ability to stay light-hearted and keep from careening off my path.
‘To be playful is not to be trivial or frivolous, or to act as though nothing of consequence will happen. On the contrary, when we are playful with each other we relate as free persons, and the relationship is open to surprise; everything that happens is of consequence. To be playful is to allow for possibility whatever the cost to oneself’ -- James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games

As we grow older, Polly and I genuinely feel younger and thus more connected to our shared sense of playfulness. As community builders, we enjoy seeing others discover the value of play because it continues to be one of the most valuable tools in our community builders’ bag of tricks. Integrating a playful approach into every aspect of community and injecting fun into otherwise boring or mundane tasks, getting people onboard and keeping them onboard, letting people choose what is fun for them ... these are important highlights in our work.

'Play helps our brains make new associations, identify new solutions to old stuck patterns, see things in a new way ... harnessing the power of play in many aspects of our daily lives …understanding our identities, our relationships, how to create and maintain our communities ...’ -- James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games

As your fellow Social Scientist, I offer the following for consideration-
FUN and CREATIVE is the new SUSTAINABILITY .
…………………..

PLAY bestows upon us The Power of Permission -- the permission to be ridiculous, to imagine, and thus recreate the world through the lens of wonder, magic and joy.

What a grand freedom it is to laugh at yourself, not to care what others think, to be joyful and really laugh till it hurts ... and therein discover that there truly is a Science to Celebration.

So what are you waiting for, friends? Jump aboard the Ship of Fools, the merry throng awaits!

PSMG as Beauty Engine Vehicle

2007-05-31T12:37:00.000-07:00

so...created 3 clans to encourage people to think about their 'playful personas' for Peepshowminigolf and craft their identities accordingly

instigating this in lieu of a 'DRESSCODE' for my upcoming June 9th BDAY

its pure Superstar Avatar coming back in and i couldn't be happier!

hoping that it instigates dialogue, polarity between the clans, showdowns and fuels the overall quality of play

Gotta say, i love our approach as Social Archtitects....we'll see how it goes
......................

The 3 PeepSHowMiniGolf Clans

In The Circus Clan-
BigTop Celebrities, Vaudevillians, White Face Clowns, BigTop Divas, HighFliers, Ringmasters, Poodle Tamers, Specialty Acts, Rodeo Clowns, Dancing HotDogs-Porn Mimes & Clowns, Red Face Clowns, Elvis Impersonators, Hobo Clowns, Auguste Clowns, Concession Boothees, Popcorn/Peanut Pushers, Tent Riggers, Midway Con-Artists, Back Lot Madam’s & Shady Ladies, SideShow Freaks and Geeks, etc

In The PeepShow Clan-
Bombshell Beauties, Pin-ups, Absinthe Dandies, Manager/Promoter, the Paparazzi, Wanna-be XXX Stars and Starlets, 42nd St. Features, Glass Booth Beauties, Vixens, Media Sharks & Journalists, PeepShow Janitors and those fresh-faced honeys ‘just gathering material for their book’

In the GoofyGolfer Clan-
Cartoon Characters, Puppets, Giant Headed People, Dinosaurs, Pirates, Mermaids, Pharoahs and MiniGolf Nuts in PLAID, ‘if the Goofy Golf Course came to life at night…’

Marvelous Happenings

2007-05-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

Its happening fast- moving in quick… this many hued, super lush, fantastic miracle of beautiful people, playful exploration and creative collaboration colliding and careening into existence…
The Beauty Engine Evolution Revolution Traveling Road Show with Peepshowminigolf
-A Rise of The Marvelous, The Wondrous, The Beautiful!

10 positive principles, themes and qualities exhibited this past weekend at The Lightning In A Bottle Festival in Santa Barbara by The Evolutionary Revolutionary Superstars-
1 RADICAL COLLABORATION & RADICAL SELF-EXPRESSION
it was super interesting to watch this balance play out, gauging commitment to the collective vs. personal indulgence and expression…..the weekend showed us BOTH
were a powerful component in its success
2 OPENESS AND TOLERANCE
we had a wide range of folks & sub-cultures present and y’all were pretty cool with it all
3 LOVE OF PLAY, LOVE TO PLAY
play unleashed big time novelty, brought us closer, brought out the kid in us
4 COMMUNITY-HEARTEDNESS
watching people experience the value of being accountable and taking an active interest in the welfare of the group experience…. building trust, being vulnerable and experience the value of being a complete circuit of GIVING AND RECEIVING, witnessed many awesome moments of closeness-connection, shared their gifts
4 TAPPING THE POWER OF POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT
saw the value of working in these genres: improve, theater, bardic/song, puppetry, burlesque, vaudeville, sideshow, carnival- circus arts, street theater, festival/fair celebration, storytelling
5 BEAUTY ENGINE FRAMEWORK-ING
guides did the guide thing, BE provided a common language, vision
6 NON-LINEAR STRUCTURE
‘non-sequiter cue cards’ conjuring a potent surreality, openness to ‘go with the flow’ as the Universe dished out technical challenges, invoking our surrealist orgins
7 SHAMANIC THEMES
the intentional use of ‘Medicine’, the Hero’s Journey, working with Allies/Archetypal energies, themes of Initiation all came into play
8 PLAYFUL SEXUALITY
sexy came to play but didn’t rule the game…sweet!
9 COMMITMENT TO SERVE, PERSONAL/COLLECTIVE EVOLUTION
almost everyone on this trip exhibited a desire to serve both their own and collective evolution, to be a steward of ‘Evolutionary Fire’
10 AN INVITATIONAL SPIRIT
seeing members of our crew reach out to others, explain things, invite others to play and not be exclusionary, the ‘lightning bottle’ gifts were well recieved

A Theater of the Marvelous

21 years ago, I found a personally influential book titled-
‘The Theater of The Marvelous- Surrealism and The Contemporary Stage’ in the UCSC library and this morning, found myself intuitively reaching for it again on my top shelf. As I leafed through key pages and passages, it came back to me in a flash…what I had been striving for all these years, the quest I had been on all these years…..
‘what are the tools, the community, the players and the vision to bring the wildly creative, gorgeous movement we know is coming into existence?’
How do we court Wonder, Awe and Sublimely Ridiculous Beauty- that life and The World may become The Grand Art Project we know it to be?
Can a movement be engineered?
Well, together, we have play tested the tools of Beauty Engine. It works.
We have found each other. The community of players- KS, Beauty Engine and all our colleague networks….
Collectively have honed our parts –our skills-our talents, our ability to improv on any theme.
We took it on the road, without rehearsal, and opened the portal magnificently.
Can a movement be engineered?
Signs point to yes.
Its upon us, and yes, at the The Party At The End of Time we really do get to play mini golf and wear tiny hats.
Video is going up soon on our multiple websites, talk of the touring road show is happening with SF’s most competent showman, adapting the show for corporate hire would be fairly easy, ideas for integrating PSMG with The EVOREVO show are flowing in. More non-linear. more Puppets, more games, more mythical nonsense, deeper journies….
I’m watching healing and major transformations occur quickly now in our community.
Our collective heart is strengthening, opening.
This us us-
We carry a current celebrated throughout history by so many before us….
Priestesses, Dakinis, Artists and Bards, Bacchantes and Dionysian- lovers of the Truth and Beauty way, the beatniks and hippies of the 60’s movement-40 years old this summer…
We are part of a tradition which has always brought new light in through the cracks of the old
The joy we feel when we’re together accelerates our inner fire and ignites those around us.
We are The Players of The Marvelous and a New Game emerges from our play.
The Finite Game of the old world, which is defined by winners and losers, is giving way to the far more attractive and appealing Infinite Game, which is defined by increasing quality of play for all players….
Lets make it so!

Some key quotes from ‘The Theater of The Marvelous’-

‘the Theater of the Marvelous is an art form whose quest is none other than that of understanding the relation of the individual to the universe. It is not a subjective art form in which the personal expression of the particular creator becomes the most important objective. On the contrary, it strives to attain a language or form of expression –whether verbal, visual, corporeal, or symbolic- that opens on to another dimension and permits that dimension to flood our vision in order to expand our consciousness to perceive the vast expanses of an infinitely unfolding reality. Each act of the ‘theater piece’ is an alchemical stage in the psychic evolution of the spectator, preparing him/her for the final transmutation which will only occur when they leave the theater.’

‘…it often embraces baroque excesses, reflecting the commingling of opposites and the paradoxical diversity of elements that yield a multidimensional vision.’

‘…it strives to awaken the dormant psychic powers of the spectator-as-participant so that they may rekindle the spark of intense inner vision within themselves and become open to the experience of a revitalized and more passionate level of existence, where the imagination suffuses reality and produces a magical world view.’

‘a hallmark of The Theater of The Marvelous is its constant striving to cross all frontiers and artificial boundaries, to weave together antinomical worlds in a new union libre, a fusion which defies the arbitrary, conventional categories separating dream from reality, desire from the act, spirit from matter, the temporal from the atemporal, and national linguistic barriers from an international spirit of unity.’

‘…thus from the point of view of the playwright of the Theater of The Marvelous, (Man), as spectator. Performer, or creator, is analogous to the metal that must be transformed by a psychic alchemy; and this may be accomplished by means of language or by means of an event.’

‘…the expression of the ideal of this reintegration of humanity into an expanded and impassioned life on earth is the goal of the new theater of surrealist origin.’

‘Art is the magical vision which helps man to become a seer through the reawakening of his imagination- imagination being like the souls eye; therein forms are outlined and preserved; thereby we behold the reflections of the invisible world; it is the glass of visions and the apparatus of magical life’

‘T.A.R….poetic images of the alchemical citadel/city –a representation of the cabala’s concept of eternity. The concept of eternity means the union of past, present and future. This citadel, this symbol of eternity, can be equated with the meaning of the concept of the archetype according to the Great Arcanum of The Tarot, for it is also a realm of androgyny, simultaneity, omnipresence, and omnipotence…also harmonious, eternally content, possessing ability to manifest any activity and consequently of being in the position to limit those activities.’

Guides are The Gardeners in Beauty Engine

2007-04-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

Heres a doodle map i did showing how guides operate as stewards/gardners in The Beauty Engine....

The Beauty Engine Evolution Revolution Road Show and Traveling Starlight Carnival

2007-04-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Taking Beauty Engine on The Road to Lightning in a Bottle Festival May 11-13
it'll be a bit Medicine Show,bit variety show, a bit PeepshowMiniGolf, a bit H.R. Pufn'Stuf kids hour...

heres the banner we're having made for it....
should be fun...time to bring it to life through playful experiences!

Beauty Engine Manifesto, revisited

2007-04-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Beauty Engine invites you to participate in a Revolution of Human Excellence- an exuberant explosion of collective intelligence, creativity, altruism, intention and goodness…
If you’re listening, if you’re tuned in..
Then you’re part of it already…yes, you-
inspiring in your own unique and radiant way.
An agent of the Evolutionary Fire now washing over the entire Planet,

DID YOU HEAR THAT?
...It’s the big giant switch being flipped on-
the Light of Lights being turned on…
the Sun, rising in the Heart of a Humanity growing up,
blossoming from our cocoon …so here we go, here we rise…
buoyant, winged, ready, ripe and juicy.
Our sleeves are rolled up, a wild motley of Johnny Appleseeds,
ready to tend Earth as the Garden it was meant to be...

(I feel worthy of this, yes I do.
In my heart of hearts, I feel worthy for this,
I Am Ready To Rock, this is why I am here, what I have trained for.)

TAKING A MOMENT TO REVIEW THE BEAUTY ENGINE VISION
Imagine a collaborative art project embracing the whole of Humanity…calling upon the collective creativity, goodwill, wisdom, intention and positivity of communities everywhere…
A tapestry of Cocreation being woven across the entire planet.

Beauty Engine sees potential and mastery in everyone,
Beauty Engine sees all beings as social artists,
Beauty Engine sees freedom and accountability going hand in hand,
Beauty Engine sees creativity as a primary element in tempering all social technologies,
Beauty Engine serves to assist in the circulation of Humanities wisdom, goodwill, abundance and creativity.

The good news is that all of us already play some part within the Beauty Engine.
With each of our unique pieces, we bring illumination which reflects in each other, amplifies one another, harmonizes with each other as an infinitely diverse, exquisitely unified family
….a Cocreation glowing with an ever growing luminosity.

Beauty Engine reveals through direct experience the wonder of Cocreation.
Cocreation being, quite simply, The Most Abundant Force on Earth.

It is beyond all mental concepts, the power and value of Cocreation.
I suspect it may be the Will of Love itself, a fail safe program, a open secret of mind blowing proportions pulsing and spinning at the heart of all things.
I’ve seen Cocreation at work a thousand times…and you have too, that something that accelerates when you bring good things together, when openness meets enthusiastic creativity…. when positive joins with positive.
Some say its scientific; this mutually amplifying, accelerating, quantum phenomenon of harmonious process and fluidic balance.

LOOK TO YOURSELF, FIRST
You are a modern individual, discerning and truly experienced.
You are a mastercrafter of persona, nuanced, versatile, expressive.
You move through life fluidly, authentic, passionate.
You are who you wish to be. You create Beauty, coexist with its source.
Life is your canvas, you exist To Be-artfully.
As a Social Artist, IDENTITY is your medium..the canvas you present to society.
You want to be part of something good , something positive, something worthwhile.
This is where it starts.

POWER FLOWS THROUGH US
No-one ever took your True Power from you-
And you never gave it away.
Relax and be what you truly are,
Relax and just let it flow through you.
Share it forward. Give it away
The more you share your mojo, your lightning, your medicine, your Sacred Fire, your ‘Juice’…. the more it will flow through you.
Don’t be stingy….let it flow, bring it on.
This Feels Good.

LET IT CIRCULATE
Feel the tree that we are together
filling and flowing with lightning sap
When we open up to receive each other’s power
allowing the medicine flow between us,
feel as vulnerability reveals ever greater strength,
as openess reveals untold Abundance.
Here Beauty Engine becomes Medicine Bottle, available to all
to be passed around by caring hands, that we may partake freely.

ASSEMBLE, MY PEOPLE
Face to face, folks…thats where the magic happens,
where we really get to savor the worth of our efforts.
Humans are a totally amazing technology best experienced live.
Come meet your colleagues, The Collective Avatars,
the communities bringing the New World into existence.
Here is where we demonstrate our willingness to play…
here is where we state our readiness for collective action,
ready to witness each others Mastery.

NOW WE ACTIVATE THE SHIP
How nice that we have a Universe to play in!
So many adventures, so much time!
Where shall we go, what Beauty shall we cocreate together?
(oh, didn’t you know THAT is the meaning of life?)
Come, share your wisdom with your colleagues and evolutionary playmates.
Share your love of creating experiences with your friends and communities,
Share them, pass them along!
Wisdom, True Power and Experience are the currency here.

AT THE CENTER OF THE GARDEN, THE GOLDEN APPLES
So here, we return to the beginning.
This is where we find ourselves sparking with evolutionary fire,
ready to carry the flame seeds of cocreation into the world.
This is where we ask ‘how can I participate?’
Behold, on a tree in Beauty Engine’s Garden, The Golden Apple.
These Golden Apples are invitation from The Beauty Engine itself,
inviting us to take a bite.
Taste the apple, become the invitation.
Model Cocreation through artful living.
Here we become both the gardeners and the garden, growing with goodness.

Bearers of The Golden Apple are the fertile, twining tendrils of Beauty Engine itself going into the world….
Beauty Engine Guides, as they are called, are teachers, enthusiasts, stewards, advocates, promoters, and community builders…all joined by a desire to serve , a passion for seeing potential revealed and a shared love of cocreation.
You will know them by their gold stars (hmmm, maybe it should be a gold apple)

Here is where we go under the hood of THE BEAUTY ENGINE itself…and find out just how deep the rabbit hole really goes.
Here is where you find that Beauty Engine is an open system which invites direct participation in its process of distillation and refinement.
Here is where you find a great repository of practical methods, visionary solutions and community wisdom that grows in value as more people use it and add to it.
Here is where you can access the tools, wisdom and networks of The Beauty Engine.

You bristle with Evolutionary Fire, seeds in your hand-
You burst at the heart with a desire to explore the stars
‘Beauty is everywhere’, you say…
Then step up… no-one can claim your Sovereignty for you
Stand in magnificence and allow the stars to shower upon you

‘I Am Worthy’, you say

The Star Council is ready to welcome you,
Evolutionary Operators- standing by…

We’ve been expecting you.

Thoughts and Reflections on The Beauty Engine Guide Training

2007-04-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

Thoughts and Reflections on The Beauty Engine Guide Training with
Kazu, Katzu, Kuzuki, Naoko, Yumiko, Atsuko (name spelling?)
From Professor Violet
Mission Control in March, 2007

The following are reflections on our first Guide Training session here at Mission Control-San Francisco with our Japanese friends.

Together we went on an amazing 4 day journey; with much learning, sharing and connecting occurring, all with the assistance of the Beauty Engine framework.
Core themes such as Cocreation, Authenticity, Joy, Passion, Playfulness, Accountability and Creativity were explored as positive factors in assisting with building and maintaining successful community.
Each of our guides-in-training proved to hold much wisdom and understanding of the 6 core Beauty Engine concepts we explored during that period.
I experienced an amazing level of focus, dedication, curiosity, openness on behalf of each participant and was consistently impressed with the level of depth and intention behind every question poised.
Language and cultural differences poised very valuable and often funny challenges to the learning process and only served to bring us closer together as a group.
Each guide proved to have very distinct and valuable gifts and offerings which were enjoyed by all.
By the third day and final Beauty Engine Salon, the group shared a wonderful quality of connection I have always dreamed could be possible with Beauty Engine.
As guides, we found that we all shared a powerful vision and commitment to facilitating experiences, being of service to Planetary Renaissance, playful learning, personal empowerment and smooth group process.

The final closing session was the most powerful for me and the most meaningful.
We all shared such a sense of connection and committment that I felt quite emotional and teary-eyed, a good thing!
My sense of connection to these guides which most I had only known for a short time was quite intense.
Overall, I felt as sense of overwhelming Unity and Peace, being together in circle with these exemplary human beings.
An incredible warmth came over me, a feeling as if all my life efforts in service to a world of Harmony, Beauty and Joy were being received by equals
As a result of our efforts and our willingness to be open and learn from one another, to share our visions and dreams, our laughter….I felt a very real and powerful ‘Rainbow Bridge’ establishing itself between us and our collective organizations/communities.
I left this final experience with a feeling that these guides-in-training from Japan were truly dedicated to integrating and applying the Beauty Engine framework into their projects, communities and lives.
If Beauty Engine were a tree, in that moment more than any other before…i could feel its branches and roots spreading out, going forth-
The new growth of green leaves shimmering in the light of a New World.

2007 Beauty Engine Rising

2007-02-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

SO much going on...

Tonight we have round two of the Bay Area BE guide training...
last week went really well, a great group of people learning and sharing wisdom using the BE framework as a point of reference

tonight we go deeper into examples of IDENTITIES, POWERS, CIRCULATING, ASSEMBLING, DYNAMICS AND ACTIVATING

Tonight we have a proper AVatar introduction round...oh, goody!
PLaid!
.........

The group coming from Japan next week is now at 7 people, all educators who wish to become profecient in using the Beauty Engine in their learning communities
We will spend three days sharing wisdom and going through the learning curve with them.
It should be an exciting process.
Kazu will be training to become a STARGUIDE, which means that he will be able to train guides in Japan.
We will be having a STAR appointing ceremony at the Beauty Engine Salon on March 8thto honor those that have shown the desire and proficiency to support BE on a deeper level.

.......

UaNoa festval on Maui fast approaches, March 17th and 18th
If ever we have been part of a more open-ended, cocreative process....i can't think of it.
Working with Suga and Mayumi in Japan and Fred in Maui...has been a test of fiath and our skills in 'going with the flow'...as they say in Hawaii.
Using Tribe.net has proved invaluable in inviting and building interest , support and locating resources.

We will be incorporating many aspects of BE into this festival as we are able, in support of facilitating a cocreative container for celebration, connection and what Suga calls-
'Planetary Activation'....

These aspects including:
Helping guests present a clear identity (who am I? how do i wish to represent myself?)
Helping guests clearly navigate the festival's various interactive components
-connecting people with what they need and wish to offer
creating space for people to share their talents and visions
creating space for people to synergize their talents and visions with others
providing clear agreements (Dynamics) for graceful interaction and group process
providing suggestions for various activites and ways to connect and cocreate

Interview with Prof V - On Life, Beauty Engine, Superstar, PSMG, Japan and stuff!

2006-10-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

Wed, October 4, 2006 - 2:04 PM

An interview with Professor Violet- October 2006

Hey everybody!
...what a whirlwind couple of months its been….here's a concise if not impressionistic picture of what’s been going on with our accelerating path.
Polly and I have been in constant motion since mid summer and are now just slowing down a bit before the SF National Halloween Holiday Month fully kicks in….
I interviewed myself as a sort of reflection exercise to ‘get it all straight’ in my head and thought I’d share it with anyone out there who may be interested.
It really gives you the full download....

Q-So I understand you’ve been working with the Japanese lately, what’s that all about?

Yeah, a connection with an old friend of mine has blossomed into a really amazing colleague- Mayumi Jingu, a really well known educator in Japan who flew me to a World Peace Summit Conference in Kobe 6 years ago ….is working with us now to bring the Social Design of Beauty Engine to Japanese culture. When I attended the conference in Kobe, Japan…I met many passionate visionaries from all around the world working to bring about a New Planetary Culture….i could see clearly then that there was a piece missing…there was no common language…and by language I mean method-system-design….to enable people to collaborate / cocreate together easily and effectively on a wide scale beyond cultural boundaries. I was currently immersed in BMAN culture, Fetish community, RenFaire/Costume society, ETC. and could see how the social conventions which flourished in those communities could easily be translated into a design that would enable self organizing, creative community to spread on a Planetary scale. Go figure.
Shortly after my original trip to Japan, I met Polly Superstar and together we began the 5 year process of honing and refining this social design. Just last week, Mayumi and our new friend Kazu, whom we have appointed as the first OFFICIAL Beauty Engine Guide, stayed here at Mission Control and together, we crafted a 40 page document which concisely details the functionality and social wisdom behind Beauty Engine. People in the Bay Area will find the wisdom in this doc all too familiar.
We are currently adding graphic design elements, proofing and adding supplementary materials…..to create our V 1.0 Beauty Engine Handbook…which we will be self-publishing shortly. Very exciting…as this book finally puts everything we’ve been going on about for years into one place….Polly has done an amazing job focusing the work on this manual….I’m ever so grateful!

Q-What are your main impressions of your work in Japan?

Well, 16 days of non-stop workshops, meeting community leaders, speaking and being received as Cultural Diplomats was totally intense. The first thing that really comes to mind about Japan was that we had to get out of our heads with Beauty Engine and really get into our hearts and feel the essence, the vision of what Beauty Engine is really about. Our trip really challenged us to be totally vulnerable and open about our real mission.
In SF we frequently have to watch our language around some communities because they just see us as freaky party promoters and get all quiet when we start talking about ‘Cocreation and Planetary Social Design’…so it took awhile for us to come out of our SF-induced shells.
These people that we were put into very close 1-2 day workshops with were all really amazing people…many of them educators, healers and such….and seemed so more capable of facilitating workshops than us! I have never before met such open and heartfelt beings…..so sweet, these people. They taught us so much- non-verbal communication skills, empathy, humility, the joy of true collaboration…..
What it all really came down to for me was reconnecting with my passion for seeing people discover and embody their truth, their real genius, their inner voice-light….call it what you will. Even here in my own community, I see so many people that I care about deeply still wandering in search of what it is that they truly love, what it is that they truly wish to live in service of….unconnected, ungrounded to any real personal connection to SOURCE power within themselves.
Beauty Engine is designed to help ignite the essential fire of creativity and personal power that exists within everyone…to be spread, to be shared…to give permission to explore and embody what we truly find beautiful…and to celebrate that together, to crack the cynical-jaded heart of the modern world…and reveal the Garden of Beauty that exists within everyone …It’s a big vision and hope we carry with Beauty Engine…and one which the Japanese have resonated with in a huge way….we’re so grateful to them and to Mayumi and all those that made our trip to Japan possible….

Q-What’s up with the Izanai Dance Troupe you just hosted at XenoDrome?

Wow. These people are embodiments of what I’m talking about.
They are totally on fire, these people. They are so in alignment..heart, body, soul….
Just being around them makes you feel good. I want to live like that.
I want every day of my life to be spent as a creative Avatar surfing waves of golden goodness, leaving Beauty in my wake. Such sincere people dedicated totally to bringing about a New World through ecstatic expression, creativity, compassionate service……
We met them at the end of our Japan trip and had our biggest connection with these guys. We share a vision of Planetary Awesomeness with these guys that have since led to us now collaborating with them on what Polly has dubbed- The Everything Festival……in Maui next March. Mayumi calls it ‘A Plenum Activation Festival and Living University”. We’re going to invite troupes of creative types from all over the world to come together and share their Beauty through performance and workshops. A festival created by everyone present for everyone, all in the name of Beauty .
Together with them we will host and Beauty Engine Social Design will provide the template for cross cultural collaboration.
Their show at Xenodrome was awesome…we had the hard core punk rock xenodrome guys in a circle at the end with their hands up, singing alongside everyone else….with the Izanai folsk yelling ‘we love you!!!”
It was so great.

Q-So what’s up with the whole PeepShowMiniGolf thing?

Ah, yes…the other end of the spectrum.
Straight up, the vision for PSMG is to create a fun, irreverent, wacky social experience that we can take to HOLLYWOOD and get a Reality TV SHoW.
PSMG is pure Superstar Avatar, the manifestation of Beauty Engine moving into Pop Culture. PSMG is real carny, lowbrow and designed to inspire the proliferation of larger than life characters to appear and breed.
We want to unleash the creativity and power our collected subculture communities and share with TV America…but on our own terms. Bring the conventions of Beauty Engine to bear down on the bullshit of scarcity and competition myths presented by current Reality TV modeling.
When it gets going full steam, the idea is for PSMG to invite folks to create Avatars, assemble CLANS that create and host HOLES and show up rival gangs with their various Superpowers. PSMG encourages rival CLANS to work out any differences or conflict in the Showdown arena. Think Thunderdome meets PeeWee’s Playhouse. With talking Tiki head, puppets, strippers, Goths and art freaks. And whatever people want to bring to it, really.
ThuderDome hall…‘Two Balls enter, One Ball Leaves”, paying the theme from Thunderball.
PSMG is about being ridiculous, having a good time and bringing a wide diversity of creative communities together. Polly and I are so uninspired of seeing SF folks segregate themselves all the time…we love seeing really diverse groups of people come together.
PSMG also has Medicine Show Overtones and a deep current of Pro-America /Founding Fathers schtick thrown in.
We flew the American flag proudly at PSMG Bman…the only one I saw, actually

Q-How did PSMG work out at BurningMan?

Well, truthfully, it was a hard year for us. We planned big and didn’t have enough lead time to rally the interest we needed to really pull it off. When the course was open and the energy was rolling, PSMG was a real blast.
Oddly enough, PSMG was almost too ‘high concept ‘ for Bman…too nuanced!
Manning the course also took way more energy than we could give and still have our own experience. Dealing with drunk after drunk, needy people, demanding people wanting ‘gifts’ and folks stumbling and breaking things got real old, real fast.
We opened about 3-4 hours a night….and did host a lot of fun during the week. We had some fun holes show up and got to take the whole thing out for a bit of a test spin. Learned lots. Rather shoot too high and hit a little low than never shoot at all.
Buts that’s our way.

Q-What are some highlights/lowlights of your BMan experience?

Highlights:
Standing on top of the PSMG stage at sunset, beautiful sky and warm wind, the signs lit up and glowing…watching a guy dressed as a giant redwood put on the Classic Hole with Polly shaking her donk through the keyhole….with my man -The Source standing nearby me, the force of nature who built the PSMG stage…playing the Appalachian HoDown music and gathering a large posse of square-dancing ravers…..later, when the course was in full swing….me jumping around with my under-lit mic, smoking my Cuban cigar, Albino Cobra whip and PeepShow Jacket…..PRAW and SUGARBUNNY invoking lewd, beautiful mojo ..howling- yelping..all hopped up on Clown Hooch, Perry and Kingsly playing along with the Meco Presents 2001 Disco Medley…and all the while two SwingClub promoters peaking on acid….holding down their beanbag chairs on the roof next to me, wide eyed and too terrified to move…I’ll never forget the look on their faces
other moments:
…..Chasing down hippies in my GIANT PLAID PANTS costume..(all you can see is a 6ft tall pair of pants with giant shoes)
…Stopping ravers and hippies flying on E on the Esplanade….and whipping out my giant sausage and giving them a proper sausage –face slapping from out my fly-zipper.
….the REALLY drunk guy carrying a small Heineken keg and singing RING OF FIRE at PSMG over Johnny Cash
……watching the Waffle burn with friends and marveling at the intensely beautiful fire elementals that came out to play…..
……bouncing on the giant POOH BALL in my Bunny Diaper costume
Lowlights:
Many friends that we thought were going to come onboard to help and get wacky with us…..would stop by briefly on their way to dance camps…mumbling amongst themselves what substances they were taking that night, then poof into the night.
This happened every night, but that’s BMAN, and we knew it…and couldn’t begrudge anyone for it. We just got a bit lonely out there.

Q-What is the difference between Beauty Engine and Superstar Avatar?

Beauty Engine is the intentional core of wisdom and design that will allow for SuperStar Avatar to occur.
Superstar will reflect Polly and I’s sense of aesthetics and humor…
Superstar is BE brought to malls and cell phones…Mix Tribe-MySPace, period re-enactment communities, Cosplay, BurningMan culture and the like together and you get a bit of an idea of what Superstar may become.

Overall….as much as we appear to be control freaks, we’re just along for the ride…its hard to tell just how Superstar and BE will roll out cuz they’re living creations…and subject to change with everyone that comes into contact with them
We have strong ideas about what we would like to see as the Stewards of them but ultimately…its not up to us.

Q-Where are things at with those projects?

Well, getting the V1.0 Beauty Engine Handbook out is key for us right now.
We’re ready to meet communities here in the US that we can develop cocreative relationships with…Ones that see the value of our design and have things to offer in return.
Its also high time for Beauty Engine sponsorship and funding.
We’ve got an amazing new gal helping with events at Mission Control but we’re getting real tired of relying on events to survive!
Ideally, we would like to meet a heart-centric business savvy individual with VISION that can help us craft the roll-out of the bigger picture .
SuperStar’s success is entirely dependent on getting BE out the gate …

Q-What continues to be the main focus of your work?

Serving Planetary Evolution through Play.
Bringing more Love and Ecstasy into the world, serving The Beauty within everyone…seeing TRUE POTENTIAL realized within everyone!
More healing, more authenticity, more ridiculousness!

Q-Any exciting events coming up at Mission Control or elsewhere you’re working on you’d like to share?

Oct 8 Burning Man Decompression …we were gonna do a whole PeepSHow MiniGolf thing but we’re still recovering from the last two months of effort! Most prob take some putters and balls however…anyone that wants to join us!
Oct 13 Midnight Cabaret at Unkle Pauls Friday the 13th Absinthe Soiree
…looking for fairies that want to play!
Oct14th- Kinky Salon, Seduction of The Orient… is a Japan influenced theme…with other Asian themes thrown in…should be awesome, we’ve got great giveaways and special acts!!
Oct 28th- The PeepShow MiniGolf booth and Savage Jungle Babe/VooDoo Witch Doctor Ensemble for the VIP Lounge at The Exotic Erotic Ball… interested parties inquire within…but no promises, this is a tough gig!
November- Triple XXX Haunted Fun House and PSMG….stay tuned!
Also, working on a Tantra influenced event at MC in the near future in cahoots with some awesome Dakini’s and Priestesses….
December- The 6th Annual Whobilation Celebration!
Spring Equinox- The Everything Festival in Maui

Q- Anything specific you are looking for?

Biz-wise, looking to take Beauty Engine to the next level….
Personally, I’m craving smaller – more intentional gatherings and events….really feel disconnected right now from SF community, feel like we’ve been in an alternate reality for a long time now…….
Dinner invites would be nice, invitations to other gatherings…which people always seem to think we know about but never do!
And of course, Faerytale excursions into Mythic Realms of enchantment with beautiful souls……

Q-Anything you would like to offer?
Compassion .....wherever i can offer and however much i can muster!

Recommendations:
Music- Nightmares on Wax, ‘In a space outta sound’…awesome downtempo dub
Film- The Illusionist was great, also upcoming ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ looks totally magical!
Book- The new Daniel Pinchbeck – ‘2012, The Return of Quetzacoatl’ is a must read!
Also The Gospel of Mary Magdalene by Tau Malachi
Haagen Daaz- Mayan Chocolate is to die for….
The 13 Moon Oracle by Ariel Spilsbury is a piece of groundbreaking wisdom technology now available.

Other offerings:
Mission Control is available for a rental to the right group for New Years Eve!

Q- Any last thoughts you’d like to share with those in BlogLand?

• Remember, a waffle is a plaid pancake.
• …still wanting to perform Wang Chung’s ‘Everybody Wang Chung Tonight” dressed as a dancing taco…with back-up dancers dressed as various junk food items.
• YOU ARE The Keeper of your own heart! ….tend to its fire, whisper to it, cuddle with it, take time to discover your own inner beauty … cultivate a secret relationship with the world within your own heart….
….court Awe and Wonder whenever possible, allow yourself to be open to receive the Beauty in others…be devoted, make a fool of yourself, take chances, BE MINDFUL ABOUT WHAT YOU SAY OF OTHERS- Karma is accelerating!!.....don't worry about 'getting it right'...START ANYWAY!!!!!
….In The Heart, the truth of your soul path is found there, in that innermost secret place …and not out in the world or in another……..trust all messengers and thank all challenges!

And lastly, this link:
www.youtube.com/watch

Whirlwind of events

2006-07-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

Beauty Engine went well last night.
The topic of AVATARS, IDENTITIES AND PERSONAS was well recieved.
Lots of good open dialogue and sharing on the subject.
We got to hear from some people in the community in a very open and frank manner, really nice.
Getting to see new sides of people that come around a lot Mission Control was refreshing!
The Speed Mingling went well- Vav did a great job facilitating.
Next Beauty Engine will take place after we get back from Japan and it'll be great to share stories, pics and video of what happened over there.
------
PeepSHow MiniGolf is building up speed.
PSMG excites me for multiple reasons- one is that i get to harness my Carny-Sideshow-MC Powers to bring this to life.
Another being that i love minigolf, of course.
Still not sure how the 'peepshow' element will fully work in- but just the concept attracts people here in the SF underground...(of course)
Mixing Silly with Sexy proves to be a great formula.
Introducing aspects of SHOWDOWNS...where we get diverse communities to challenge each other on the course will take time but i'm confident that we can get that going.

Folks are coming up with some really funny course themes and names.
The whole 'ridiculous'component is great because it gives people license to be silly and play.
Play being a key component to accessig your Powers, of course!
-----------
Japan is right around the corner, we sent off our materials to be translated last week.
The whole thing seems like a dream. Excited of course but trying to stay level and calm about the whole thing. The prospect of hosting experiences for Japanese communities seems, well,
kind of mind blowing.
I know that they'll enjoy our playful, colorful approach.
Fun is universal and the energy of Goodwill and authentic, heartfelt expression - beyond language.
I wonder how much they will end up teaching us?

BE as a 'scripting' language

2006-06-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

Here is me explaining to a friend how Beauty Engine acts as a 'scripting language' for creating experiences:
----------------------------

Beauty Engine Design as ‘scripting’ language for creating experiences-

First, take a quick look at the BE social design:

http://beautyengine.org/TheDesign.html

Beauty Engine provides a simple set of terms, or common ground, with which
to understand each other, collaborate and cocreate experiences.
Much in the way that the latin classification system for species operates (Genus, Phylum, etc.) the BE provides a sort of ‘taxonomy’ for the basic social constructs that exist behind everday social operations.
These simple ‘social classification’ terms can serve as a kind of 'linguistic glue' for diverse groups and communities to ‘get on the same page’ so to speak.

The basic six terms are as follows:

AVATARS/ IDENTITIES
POWERS
CIRCULATE
ASSEMBLE
DYNAMICS
ACTIVATE

They connect in a sentence:
People create social (identities) and assess what they have to offer (powers), in order to share (circulate) amongst others (assemble). Simple catchphrases act as reminders of their social agreements (dynamics) enabling them to easily instigate and cocreate meaningful experiences (activate).

According to which network uses the BE design, these six terms can be further broken down into what we currently call- ‘types’

AVATARS- breaks down into various archetypes & social roles like flirt, networker, healer, diva, etc.

POWERS- breaks down into tangible types (goods, services, performance, etc) and intangible types (essence, vision, prayer, blessing, etc.)

CIRCULATE- breaks down into offers, needs, gifts

ASSEMBLE- breaks down into various social structures like group, organization, circle, council, posse, cult, etc

DYNAMICS- break down into various categories like mingle, group process, tricky situations, etc.

ACTIVATE- break down into various ‘how-to’ guides for social activities like cabaret, faery tale picnic, collaboratory, santa pub crawl, etc.

So, with respect to using these terms as a ‘scripting language’ when the creator of an event or gathering is ‘scripting’ an experience….they can use these terms to let people know how to participate.
For example, the next Beauty Engine Salon, we are focusing on POWERS and in our invite we are letting people know that they can prepare their POWERS to share with the group.

Another example, in our new singles mixer event, CrushLab (www.crushlab.com) we give people little activity cards (ACTIVATE) when they come in and explain what they are.

One of the activities last event was called ‘Tag Your Neighbor’ in which they were given stickers that said….

“_______ thinks I’m _______’

After talking to someone for a little while, they could fill in the blanks and stick it on them. People loved this.
Another activity was ‘Speedy Dating; in which they were encouraged to share concise, meaningful things about themselves in a facilitated environment .
Guests were also given a few cards with simple catchphrases (MINGLE DYNAMICS)on them they could use as ‘ice-breakers’ such as SOCIAL BUTTERFLY, SHY BUT HORNY, POLITE DECLINE, ETC. They could either just hand the card to someone or actually say the phrase.

Its interesting to note here that the terms and tools worked without people having to understand the ‘bigger picture’ so to speak. Most of them didn’t even have any idea of the toolkit they were benefiting from yet enjoyed them all the same.

Ultimately, the whole evening of something like CrushLab is essentially a ‘script’ of ACTIVATE activities, DYNAMICS, POWERS and such that anyone could download off the web and bring to life.

CrushLab Launch

2006-06-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

CrushLab launched successfully last thursday
www.crushlab.com

What makes me most happy about that event, which is billed as a Singles Mixer, was that people that came stated they were so happy making cool connections and meeting people they didn't care if they actually 'hooked up' or not.
Sweet.

The popsicles were popular as was Vav's excellent facilitation of the Speedy dating. The Dating Game Show was funny and people were using the dynamics and tools all night. The sticker tagging piece was popular as well.

Nice to see our tools operating more transparently. Moving into the 'application' phase, so to speak.
HOORAY!
The CrushLab crew was awesome and very enthusiastic as well.
Many of them thought this event was the best ever at Mission Control.

We have an awesome community of people here around Mission Control heping to make it all happen and for that, i am so grateful!

Next month's CrushLab must have a puppet Game Show MC and sock puppets leading the Datings Tips- Do's and Don'ts workshop.

Beauty Engine Salon Launch & Japan

2006-06-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

So we launched the Beauty Engine Salon
and the website is up.
www.beautyengine.org
We had a great group of people show on friday night and a real nice start to this new event/ community. I met a lot of deep thinkers and it seemed people had a good time connecting, hearing the vision of Beauty Engine, etc.
We got a lot of feedback that our VISION piece that we shared was clearer than ever.
Thats a good thing.
Ariel Spilsbury (www.holographicgoddess.com) did her Oracle thing to a very rapt group and spoke of Collective Transmutation, the Violet Flame, Alchemystica and other cosmic -powerful things.
It was nice to to mix mystical offerings with the mental-intellectual stuff.
She sold four sets and was delighted by the deep level of attention held by the group.
I look forward to bringing other amazing talents and visionary resources into the mix for these salons.
My only regret about the evening was that everyone did not get to share their pieces, as i know there were some waiting in the wings.
Speed Mingling worked well as did the Tag Your Neighbor activities.....
Looking forward to the next Salon and opening up the invite list.
Want to focus the next Salon on guests identities and their powers, i think.
The term 'Beauty Engineers' kept coming up.
Nice.
-------------
JAPAN!
Our tickets to Japan are confirmed and we're going next month
Starting to prepare our curriculum and workshop presentations.
I must admit that the whole 'cultural' piece is a bit daunting in terms of determining what to prepare. I am confident that they will be well recieved and that we'll have some amazing experiences over there.
i look forward to that time helping to further establish the 'toolkit' aspect of the Beauty Engine design.

The sooner we can get a neat 'Beauty Engine Starter Kit' built the sooner Beauty Engine can spread!

Thinking in terms of some origami style layout and presentation.....hmmmmm.
I love paper architecture...it would be a perfect compliment for BE layout and toolkits.

Beauty Engine Mission Statement

2006-06-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

here's the BE Mission Statement we just sent to Japan...we're pretty happy about it...even though we know it'll keep changing, this is the closest we feel it has been to date in really communicating....

--------------------

Beauty Engine supports everyone in discovering their true passion and embodying their creative genius. It is a pioneering initiative in the field of ‘Social Design’- the science of participating with, and building community.

Our mission is to create a society that values each person’s unique voice, encourages authenticity and accountability, and brings back the lost art of social excellence.

The process is simple- we bring people together to share fun and inspiring experiences and provide them with a common language that facilitates a process of cocreation. As a result, communication becomes more graceful, learning is accelerated, and collective intelligence emerges.

Social Design colleagues

2006-06-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

"We are the culture we have dreamed into existence, and now it is our job to share that dream with the world at large."

Well said, Mark Petrakis
www.telecircus2.blogspot.com

and some great thoughts here by
Audette Sophia
www.arts-r-evolution.blogspot.com

Beauty Engine article for Plenum Magazine

2006-05-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

this is a piece written for the Japanese publication-PLENUM
to be published and translated soon-it is written for a community of future thinkers and community builders that our friend and colleague has built.
-----------------------------------

Beauty Engine: The Evolution of Social Design

In April of 2006 we were honored to host Mayumi Jingu, editor of Plenum Magazine and our Co-creator and friend. We shared practical wisdom and heart-felt visions towards assisting with the emergence of a peaceful and playful culture. We would like to share those visions with the readers of Plenum Magazine.

You have probably heard of the term cocreation. Although it is being discussed extensively, there are few people who can explain clearly what it is. We have found that the only way to really understand the value of cocreation is to experience it. In response to this challenge, we have designed a simple and playful methodology that gives people direct experience of its benefits.

Tapping Into Your Genius

We believe that Co-creation is the most effective way for people to communicate and collaborate.
The methodology we have created represents a body of wisdom we have cultivated from immersing ourselves in communities and seeing how they really succeed. That wisdom has been distilled into a simple social design which can be activated in any community to help them reach their true potential.

We have experienced the value of this wisdom by embracing it ourselves, and we continue to learn and grow through application of its principles.

The Beauty Engine is a pilot project which uses an established social design, or toolkit, to convene community innovators for the purpose of sharing and documenting wisdom. When Mayumi first came in contact with the Beauty Engine seven years ago it was clear that we shared a passion for play, evolution and peace, and we immediately connected as global cocreators. We are grateful for her continued support, inspiration and vision and would like to acknowledge her work as an integral guiding light to the development of the Beauty Engine.

Experiencing Our Social Design

When Mayumi came to visit us in San Francisco, we hosted a gathering in her honor and to introduce her to the core of our social design. We invited some of our favorite people over, and experienced an inspiring evening of poetry, spoken word, artistic visions, short presentations on projects and communities as well as some great food and an especially delicious Key lime pie.

First, we cocreated a mandala of meaningful objects, lotuses and candles. Growing from our experience of making the mandala, we cocreated a two-dimensional artifact representing the world tree. The world tree had roots, a trunk and branches—and upon each natural form we documented key phrases and concepts everyone felt were important to bringing about a peaceful and playful culture. We then distilled the essence of the mandala and the world tree into twelve lessons: ecstasy, respect, vision, spectacle, flow, make, bliss, impermanence, truth, 000, being and space or potential. These twelve lessons which we then inscribed on a sculptural object, a twelve-sided die. What 12 lessons might your community inscribe on your sculpture?

An Invitation to Cocreate

Cocreation is on the rise, and the invitation to come together to share our collective beauty is here. In San Francisco we are currently witnessing many advances in the fields of art, science and spirit. It has become increasingly clear that social transformation is occurring—on both a large scale and on a very personal level. We feel a synchronicity of transformation in San Francisco, and want to reach out to you.

We want to hear: What is beautiful, abundant, vibrant and inspiring in your communities? What are the visions, talents, stories and passions you carry within you? We wish to connect in our desire to experience ourselves as players in the global play and understand our place in the Beauty Engine of Creation. Now is the time for us to come together and to share all the collective, creative genius we have within us!

Social Design

2006-05-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

..can't this phrase out of my head.
I keep thinking, what would i call what it is that i am truly passionate about,
how would i describe it?

Social Design.

I have a passion and talent for what i call 'scripting experiences'

Superstar Avatar, Beauty Engine...
Social Design Tool kits

I'll admit to having a not-so-secret desire to be a Top Social Design Artist.

..guess we'll have to create the genre first.

Time to go build my "experience decks" with The Superstar Nation card generator.

2006-05-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

The Beauty Engine Manifesto

You are a Beauty Engine.
Yes, you.

You feel it, rising, pulling yourself into the light,
a longing for air, a yearning for freedom too powerful to ignore.
You feel the impulse of evolutions promise rising within you.

Relax, let go and embody your truth
and you will feel the HEART of you begin to hum,
ready to connect you…To The Heart of It All

Be revealed for what you are;
A Steward of The New
Come, come out and play,
share those dazzling blueprints in your cells-
We await your divine genius.

Delight us with the workings that just may bring this world back to its original Wonder,
for haven’t you heard?
There are whispers of cracking open the Heart of A Collective Good , once and for all.

We have come to achieve a miracle
and Synergy, Synchronicity and Abundance of Spirit herald its arrival.

We are emerging from histories’ cocoon
like the opening of a mighty oven,
a pastry baked to golden perfection.

We beat our wings together,
Experiencing ourselves as a dynamic mandala of fluid connection
Joined by a simple fact-
A true voice cannot help but harmonize.

The Beauty Engine is a miracle of Cocreation,
its body- our passions, our visions, our intent
and its heart….a humbling and awesome revelation,
openly available to all.

The Future of Culture is here and now, so let the party begin-
they’re playing our song.

Beauty Engine, we welcome your core truth-
give us the chance to shine and we will.

Our organizations 'Dynamics'

2006-05-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

I'm reposting this from Polly...
these are our Dynamics currently inuse and ones that we have agreed to use to operate as a cocreative collective.
They work a charm....and they keep evolving!

Our Dynamics

These are the dynamics that we agree to use to smoooth out our process here at Mission Control. They are constantly fluid and changable- please feel free to edit/ give feedback at any time. This will be an evolving document reflecting our wisdom, as we gain it through direct experience of working together.

“Table that”
When we want to save a discussion for another time.

“Expert”
Recognizing when someone has more experience or has done specific research on a subject. Always take the expert’s advice over simple ‘opinion’

“What’s Real”
Take a moment to check in and find out how people are feeling. How is their energy, how is their personal life. Lets be there for eachother!

“Solutio”
Understand the value of hottubs, sunshine, parks, pot and cocktails. Sometimes thats the best way to brainstorm new ideas and think outside the box.

“Compassion”
A reminder, when we are under attack or being upset by other people, to always treat them with compassion, even if they are really pissing us off.

“Wobble”
Acknowledging if someone is having their shadow/ wounds activated and is totally freaking out

“Weakness”
Reveal our weaknesses to eachother, so that we are more aware of where we can help eachother, and what to look out for.

“Sparkle Pony”
When somebody uses a term which is unneccessarily flowery or self referential

The Heart of Being Social

2006-05-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

. from my last post:

"Hey- community leaders, tool builders, social networkers, 'experts' and innovators!
Have you built in feedback mechanisms, structures and agreements for supporting an ongoing evolutionary feedback process to inform your efforts? "

Support for Feedback Mechanisms in Community
What a huge issue.
For our own community this has been an incredibly interesting and tricky point to navigate, as we are currently seeking new ways to make it safe and acceptable for everyone to engage in various means of feedback for one another.
I see this point as an invitation on the table for us all, actually, because through our observations the most rewarding and amazing experiences can only occur when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to one another.
...when we are permeable enough to allow the beauty and power of our community mates to reach The Heart of us.

So here are some of the major 'obstacles' to take into account.

THE 'NO DIRECT COMMUNICATION RULE'
For the most part, ours is not a society that takes things on face to face. We are not taught to be direct and truthful, we are not taught to express ourselves truthfully. Many of us are taught that agression is the way to get what we want, either through direct application or passively.
Also, it is not OK to say what you really feel or think to another, especially if it something potentially unpleasant or difficult.
A polite society is a disfunctional society.
How we do turn this around, how do we make it safe to speak our truth, how do we teach ourselves to be gracious and compassionate when giving mirrors/ feedback to others?
Did we adopt this manner of being polite in person then spitting venom behind peoples backs from our English ancestors?
We are all party to this vice, my friends.....and even we allow this 'infection' of the tongue and weakness of the heart to flourish in our social networks.
Say with me: FLAMING STOPS WITH ME

THE MYTH OF SCARCITY REACHES DEEP
We are surrounded by myths, stories, images and icons of scarcity everyday.
A testimony to the lingering death clench of Patriarchal, Institutional and Corporate Consciousness still at work. These stories of scarcity were perpetrated and perpetuated by this consciousness to ensure their existence. College talk really: a self-empowered, self suffienct and mutually supportive consumer/follower/ disciple does not need its symbient host, therefore-the institution must keep feeding the body cues to keep them under the impression that they cannot survive without them.
Most corporate institutions, religions, and social structures are thus designed to thrive on disempowered participants
Consumer culture is based on this premise.
Religion is primarily based on this premise.
Corporate culture is based on this and the premise of non-accountablility.

Heal a crippled person and they will not need the crutches any longer.
The Church knew this long ago and continues to embrace MYTH that keeps people from inheriting ther TRUE POWER.
Things are about to change folks, big time.

FROM WHENCE, THE ORIGINS OF THE SCARCITY MYTH?
So how did we come to allow for these myths and stories of disempowerment to exist in the first place? Good question, eh?
If i knew the answer to that question i'd be on Mount Olympus right now drinking Nectar and spanking Hera on the ass.
How can we have allowed for these panaceas, these snake oils (Institution, Myths, etc) to keep us from our true power?
Well, simply, we have been maturing, have been growing up, these past centuries.
We have been coming into our true power as a people, as a planet of many races, as individuals...over these many lifetimes.
And i think more imporantly, we have been learning to embody the True Genuis of Our Hearts, all this time. These models, uninspiring though they may be, served their purpose at the time but are fast loosing their value now.
Fact here people, we are attempting to birth a New World with social tools built on OLD WORLD PRINCIPLES!!!!!!!!!!

Now here, i may loose some of you and thats ok. but this is the point i have observed that it all comes down to.....it is the power of the Human Heart that will bring about our collective victory!

YOU ARE WORTHY OF CHANGE!
If you do not feel worthy to change, you will not change.
If you cannot feel your own worth, have not found your own worth...truly, you will have no reason to support the worth of others when the going gets tough.
You will resort to the familiar defense tactics of MIND and EGO when things get heated.
If you have not come into a certain place of Self-Love and acceptance of yourself, whether its because your heart carries pain or fear or just because you never ventured there....
you will be able to truly accept the mirror of others.
Its basic, scientific logic folks-if you don't do the work of loving yourself first, forget it, you're going to run in circles your whole life.
Thats a fact.
To this day, i still see many good-meaning but proud community leaders and innovators that think they can do the work for others and not face it themselves.

FACT.
We're all amazing and we're all wounded.
Lets acknowledge our BEAUTY and from that place, find the strength to accept where we may be operating in ways that no longer serve us.
Let us see our culture, our communties and ourselves as 'ever on the path to wholeness"
- wonderful in so many ways, but let us ALWAYS be open.
Let us approach the work of creating and honoring collective agreements in a spirit of light-heartedness and compassion.
Let us support communities, social tools and new stories that sing the praises of being
FLUID-OPEN-DYNAMIC !
Evolution is a dynamic constant so let us constantly be perfected!

FINDING YOUR OWN BEAUTY IS AS EASY AS 1-2-3
Friends, If you have not learned to see your own Inner Beauty and Radiance...you will not see the value of compassion, forgiveness, humility and grace; those qualities being the core currency of what i would consider a True Community Participant.
I have seen many amazing people come and go from my community due to an inadequacy in this department.
They came in search of participating in something wonderful, something collaboratively inspired...but fled when their shortcomings or wounds were illuminated.
I acknowledge my part in this...could i have offered the tools to assist with this learning curve, to support them in their work?
I've seen whole communities fall due to this very point.

THE HEART AND PRIDE
I will not ask you to look at where you may be operating in PRIDE.
Its not my job to point that out but rest assurred, its there.
Pride was the root of all the other 6 sins for a reason.
As pride prevents us from recieving truth from within ourselves, from others and from THE SOURCE (if you believe in that sort of thing)...
So how can we be nimble, apt participants in community if we are unable to accept and receive the gifts others may wish to offer us, if we are too proud to accept them?

I don't attack Pride at the source, no, i've always been a pacifist
....i say...Find Beauty where it really lives, IN YOUR HEART... find your voice, your truth....and on that foundation you will discover the value of staying open!

THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA IS A WOUNDED HEALER
You will never heal yourself by healing others first.
you will never heal the world by setting out to heal others.
If you do not seek that place of Beauty and Compassion within yourself, no amount of technology or structural theory will do the work for you.
The same goes for all communities as they are a sort of COLLECTIVE AVATAR with a Heart as well, beating at their center.
I guess the same could go for the entire Earth, eh?
Many propose that there is a Collective Heart of Humanity, beating solidly to anyone that chooses to listen to it.
I've heard that heart beating, friends and it sounds like a fantastic, many petaled flower blossoming...too amazing to describe in words.

The Myth of Scarcity, the final hurtles of self-love and acceptance we're all wrestling with, the thousand programs of inadequacy and smallness gathered over our journeys...as individuals, collectives and cultures....
hold no sway, lose their grip ....in the presence of this flower blooming in The Heart
Experience it once, and you'll always want it!
See that garden blooming in yourself and you'llnot only see it in others but WANT to see it bloom in others!

LETS ENVISION THIS TOGETHER, its fun!
At the Heart of Everyone, a flower blooming,
At the Heart of every community- a rose garden,
The Earth, a garden of gardens, a New Eden,
a dynamic collective of celebration
Cultures blooming - illuminated by a dedication to ecstatic evolution
Our destiny revealed ...
At The Heart of everything...A Beauty Engine

The Key to Social Evolution

2006-05-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

O.K.
The future of Social Evolution is here and now, people.
So listen up, peeps, its real simple.
We here at Mission Control have seen it working, and i'm not just talking about our little part of the New Social Frontier...i'm talking about all around us in many different communities.

Here are some of the distinguishing factors we've not only identified but successfully embraced-
.....and lets keep the dialogue hot!

FACT:
First, give people amazing, fantastic, lovely, meaningful, fun, sexy and rewarding experiences and they'll want more...give 'em a taste of paradise and they'll never want to leave.
Give them the chance to get involved and help maintain these amazing experiences and they will...
Give them a chance to have real ownership in the community well-being and they will step up in inspiring ways as Stewards...
Show them through DIRECT EXPERIENCE that taking an active part in your own evolution and being acountable to others and yourself is not only worthy of commitment, but in fact, a pleasureable, collaborative goal!

Simply put, give people the chance to shine and they will.

Give anyone and everyone the chance to be creative and they'll take it.
Creativity is not just for some of us, its innate to every human being, some folks just need a bit more encouragement.
Give people the means to share their wisdom, stories and value and they will jump on the chance.
We have found that everyone has an incredible wealth of talent and wisdom within them waiting to be shared.
No matter how much you may not be able to connect with someone at first, sit down, share your stories and pretty soon you will start to see just how much you have in common.

FACT:
People don't need to be saved.
Communties don't need to be saved.
Society does not need to be saved.
Everyone is looking for the chance, the support, the tools and the space to lift themselves up-
to find their own unique Power and thus save themselves!

TOTALY FUN AND REWARDING IS THE NEW SUSTAINABILITY!
INSPIRATION AND INVITATION!

There are so many thriving dynamically cool social models and communities around today...ones that display abundant patterns of social behaviour.

So why do we SOCIAL TOOL BUILDERS AND NETWORKERS think we need to re-invent anything? If we are not getting dirty playing in the rich soil of others communities, how can we even call ourselves SOCIAL tool builders?

Lets humble ourselves just a TINY BIT and be open to receiving the genuis of others.
(reminder to self!)
We will not lose our own in the process, promise.

Lets create more empty space in our tools and our networks to allow for the wisdom of our fellow innovators to co-mingle with our own.

Lets collaborate with others, foster working dialogues and cocreative relationships with other organizations by creating open and inviting tools and networks that reflect this.

and one last observation and Fact:
The healthy evolution of any system or organism relies on a continuous dynamic process of feedback influencing its development.
This includes people and communities.

Hey- community leaders, tool builders, social networkers, 'experts' and innovators!
Have you built in feedback mechanisms, structures and agreements for supporting an ongoing evolutionary feedback process to inform your efforts?
(more on this point later)

So, what are the results of applying these observations of abundant social behaviour?

STATEMENT:
The result of spreading tools which support fantastically self-empowered individuals and communities, who have learned through direct experience their own innate value and the value of honoring others....will be a Society thats more of a mind-blowing, mutually harmonious, energy radiating, radically collaborative art project than the frightened, addictive, disfunctional fragmented creature it is today.

Lets harness the infrastructure and desires of consumer culture for our own, selfishly altruistic means and show them where true value is born, in the individual!

And we pray:
May ALL our social tools and networks embrace a dynamic proces of cocreation for every individual and community and functionally encourage synergy, friendly interconnecteness and inspiration for collaboration.
--------------------------------

All these previous statements, observations and functionally applicable truths form the foundation upon which the DESIGN and STRATEGIES of The Beauty Engine and Superstar Avatar been crafted.

Build your tools so that you communicate clearly to the users that they come first and their input, their ideas, their enthusiasm and effort is an inherently valued part of the network.

Beauty Engine Invocation

2006-05-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

Heres is a piece i wrote for The last Beauty Engine gathering we hosted in honor of Mayumi Jingu's (more on her in this blog soon- an amazing education innovator and colleague visiting from Japan)...a group of around 13 amazing, intelligent, heart felt beings came together in the spirit of collaboration, exporation and service towards Social Evolution.
We also had some great Key Lime pie made by Buttercup.
.............
Invocation to The Beauty Engine-

We are in a time of rich and abundant potential

Now more than ever, we are being offered the chance to participate in the unfolding of a Great Mystery well beyond even OUR wildest dreams…

Indeed, these many years have been assisting with the emergence of a thoroughly practical, totally pleasureable, completely ridiculous and Divinely Intelligent whole scale, cultural transmutation…

All of us, present here, tonight,
have been tracking, if not actually laying down… the path to this riotously beautiful and wondrously heartfelt culture we hear , in our very bones-
Harmonious in tone,
fluid in aspect,
radiant in bearing,
compassionate in intention….

Here on the banquet table amongst us….A wealth of Beauty in many forms!
Let us give thanks for the many sumptious dishes before us on our banquet table- our selves, bodies, our intentions, our creative capacities, our field tested wisdoms, our boundless visions and our increasing capacities for compassion..
These many treasures, showing up so genuinely and in the spirit of true service,

are revealing to us an inspiringly inclusive, insanely inviting, holistically holonomic and magnificently thorough model for Global Culture.
Our starry destinies as Magickal Beings are fast rising to meet us friends
Time’s tail is in the mouth of Timelessness
The beating of wings in synch with our pulse
The Gold rises in our blood
And our hearts fill with nectar

We, Beings dedicated to serving the Ecstatic Liberation of all,
we, the forerunners, the embodiments of This New Way, The Beauty Way

Shake, sigh, moan, fumble, strain and doubt
but still do not alter course….

And to that unswerving committment,
that pointedness to certain glory and

In the name Love Triumphant in the heart of every being
I offer praise to the perfection of this merry communion
and acknowledge the vibration of this exquisite mandala we collectively represent
in dedication to the following:

May every being know the song of their true self, that music which makes them utterly precious and unique
May every being have access to the tools, wisdom, communities and experiences to discover and hone this song
and may we,The Pied Pipers of Beauty,
ever strive to serve, through the harmonious application of our personal melodies
to bring the day to fruition when LotuslightShip Earth and all its inhabitants may join together in one triumphant , harmonious song…

----------------------------

Team Superstar RULES!!!

2006-05-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

To quote the immortal words of Superstar Avatar, Triclops...
"Its a ship made out of people..."

Yes, the ultimate resource, friends...
So I just want to take a moment to sing praises to the folks in my life right now working/playing towards making SuperStar Avatar, The Beauty Engine and The Moral Minority network a reality....they are a true inspiration and joy to be on the path with.
I am ever grateful for them showing up in my life!
Together i am confident that we will bring The Vision into Reality!

First off, let me sing Eternal Golden Praise to Polly Superstar, the first Superstar Avatar i ever met.
Pure inspiration, compassion and courage incarnate.
I would have long since tossed in the towel if it wasn't for her...
What a lion-hearted human, what a roar, what a purr....
such a joy to be on The Path with her!

Rachel Weidinger- aka Buttercup WingDinger
what an amazingly lovely and super humble force of nature.
Her talents for connecting the dots blows me away.
A Consultant par excellance
and makes a mean Key Lime Pie.
Fact.

Jason Hassan- aka the Source
this guy just sort of came out of nowhere and diligently went to work keeping
the physicality& energy of Mission Control together...electrical, fix-it stuff, cleaning, assisting with odd jobs at events....The Ultimate HandyMan from The 9th Dimension
...and you oughta see this guy dance!

Jessica Berlin- aka Achtung The Clown
The pushy prussian with a heart of gold...just now coming on board Mission Control to help with Promotions and Operations Management
shes passionate, sharp, witty and stylish!
we're so grateful to have her efforts on board!!!

shouts out to:
Neal Gorenflo-aka White Arrow, our conversations about new models for Society always inspire me!
Marty- aka Phanfasm #1, fellow Magician, tireless supporter, Play technician and friend...you've got the piece that'll pipe us into millions of living rooms....
Stasha- thanks for all the enthusiasm, kindness and generosity in this tough time!

and to my two brothers 'DOING THE WORK':
Russel- aka Sensei- 'my brother from another mother', this guy has a passion for evolution and authentic expression in the written/spoken word
Cameron- aka Triclops The Bootysatva, showed up from the same dimension as Jason The Source, your dedication inspires me

The Goddess Teachers in my life-
Ariel Spilsbury- colleague, cocreator and mentor on Evolution and Play
www.holographicgoddess.com
and
Mayumi Jingu- Japanese colleague, supporter and Cocreator in Beauty Engine-LailaStar and Plenum Activation Federation
Ambe Ray- Nectarian Priestess of The Overflowing Grail and Dakini Bambini
Lauren Pomerantz- Musical Muse and loving friend

and hey...J-RADICAL, you ridiculous man....
i think its laughter that holds it all together..
thanks for that and the LIGHT!!!
Lets take Broadway!

Play often!

2006-05-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

a chapter from my Pocket Guidebook on Personal Evolution...

Play often

Don’t worry friends,

I promise I won’t mention the dreaded phrase (Inner Child) once. Oops.

Enter The Fool, my Patron Saint of Play. Way cooler.

Upon my first weeks to San Francisco in 1990, I happened across a part time job at The Black Point Forest Renaissance Faire.

Some call it A Living Historical Theatrical Re-enactment, some call it an outdoor theme mall but after my first few days, I called it my home.

In the dust and hay and merriment of my first Faire, I lost myself and was found by The Fool. In this playful environment, supported by an elaborate subculture of various communities and accompanied by a merry troupe of fellow fools …I discovered the real power of Play.

For two days a week for two months, I donned the fool’s cap and bells, rolled in the dirt and generally made an ass out of myself to amuse paid guests.

It was glorious.

What looked to the guests like some poor underpaid actor embarrassing himself for a drink of warm beer was in actuality, me, finding my own liberation. I had found something I thought I had long lost.

Play, pure and simple.

The two words of wisdom that my father always offered me as a kid, “Have Fun”, certainly applied here.

Playing The Fool granted me the freedom to be silly, to prance and laugh and scamper and skip.

Play allowed the grip my intellectual mind had over me to relax, drift, free associate and most importantly, to operate in new ways.

Just allowing myself the luxury to NOT CARE what others thought about me and be ridiculously without concern for my appearance was like a drug!

Here, where All The World Truly Was A Stage, my talent for improv was received and through play, my hunger for direct experience fed beyond my wildest dreams.

After those first two months at faire my passion for play was clearly revealed.

Determined to keep playing after all my fellows went back to their real jobs, I set immediately out to create a puppet stage, a set of puppets and a fool’s outfit, marched straight out to Union Square and played to anyone that would watch.

Completely untrained but fueled by a newfound passion for play, i was soon ‘discovered’ by several local talent agencies and for the next 15 years found myself getting paid to play.

The Power of Play infused my entire life with vitality, fun, light-heartedness and fresh perspective. Every year that has passed I have grown younger.

Be playful and laugh at yourself often, friends.

Life is too serious to take seriously.

Culitvate genuine interest in the other

2006-05-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post this to remind myself...
(borrowed from a thread on Omidyar.net)

"I had the privilege of having a brilliant mentor for several years who happened to be world-reknown in our field. She had more people approach her to hire her consulting advice than she could ever handle. In addition to being reknown as an expert in her field, she was widely regarded as a marketing genius because she had so much business. Here is the secret she shared with me upon which all of her fabulous success was based: whenever she met someone, anyone, she was always genuinely and deeply interested in the other person. She said she had thought a lot about what contributed to her success because so many people sought her advice and she said her success was, in fact, that simple: genuine interest in the other. She said that if you listen long enough, with genuine interest, the other person becomes inescapably interested in you because they genuine believe you care about them. They want to invite you to work with them because you care."

my blueprint for personal growth

2006-05-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

Professor Violet’s Pocket Guide to Personal Evolution

(chapter headings from the forthcoming guide)

Direct Experience is King

Be Greedy

Play often

Act on Your Passions

Imagination is your muse

Know your Allies, Seek your Guides

Keep good mirrors

Develop an ‘Inner Witness’

Cultivate Beauty

Cultivate Gratitude

See the Gift of Challenge

True Genius Resides in The Heart

You are a Beauty Engine

The Professor in his 'Jules Verne' drag...

2006-05-03T17:28:00.000-07:00